Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho, It's off to work we go!
0 comments | Posted by Steven Layson on 27 Jul 2008 in From Steve's Study ::
If you’re into bumper-sticker philosophy, you’ve probably read the popular, I owe, I owe, so off to work I go. For a vast portion of the workforce, that’s the best reason they can muster for going to the job each day. Sometimes we can feel trapped by our work. We can spend more time working than doing anything else (including sleeping), & it only seems to serve to pay off the mortgage, or the school fees and to keep us from doing the things we really want to do. We can often relate to the views of author Mark Twain who said, Work is a necessary evil to be avoided.
But is that the way we, as Christians, should view work? Is it just a “necessary evil”, a “means to an end”? Is it merely a result of the fall?
Our readings for today show us that far from being an insignificant part of who we are, our work is very important to God and should also be to us. In Romans 12:1, Paul encourages us to offer our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual act of worship. In other words, he calls on all Christians to give God every part of their life as an act of service to Him. Indeed our work and the way we do it is part of our worship of God!
Similarly in Colossians 3:17, we are challenged with these words, whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. We often overlook the fact that we serve God in our everyday tasks. Martin Luther understood this when he wrote, The maid who sweeps her kitchen is doing the will of God just as much as the monk who prays — not because she may sing a Christian hymn as she sweeps but because God loves clean floors. The Christian shoemaker does his Christian duty not by putting little crosses on the shoes, but by making good shoes, because God is interested in good craftsmanship.
So, as you go to work this week (whether it is paid work, or unpaid), let service for God be your guiding principle, and allow it to transform your attitudes and practices.
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